Skip to main content
Log in

Metabolomics: back to basics

  • Published:
Phytochemistry Reviews Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Metabolomics has developed into a major tool in functional genomics and plant systems biology. The various methods used for metabolomic analysis will be discussed from the analytical methods back to the preanalytical phase and the biological experiment. Particularly aspects of the preanalytical phase of the analysis is dealt with, including the risks of artefact formation with the various commonly used solvents. Metabolomics is like a snap shot, and conclusions from dynamic systems must be drawn with great care as demonstrated with a biosynthetic study of salicylate in Catharanthus roseus cell cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baerheim Svendsen A, Karlsen J (1966) Direkte Gaschromatografie der Bestandteile der Aetherische Oelen in Pflanzenmaterial. Planta Medica 14:376

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baerheim Svendsen A, Verpoorte R (1983) Chromatography of alkaloids, part I, Thin-layer Chromatography, vol 23A. Chromatography Library, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 534 pp

  • Bisset NB, Choudhury AK (1974) Alkaloids and iridoids from Strychnos nux-vomica fruits. Phytochemistry 13:265–269

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brazma A, Hingamp P, Quackenbush J, Sherlock G, Spellman P, Stoeckert C, Aach J, Ansorge W, Ball CA, Causton HC, Gaasterland T, Glenisson P, Holstege FCP, Kim IF, Markowitz V, Matese JC, Parkinson H, Robinson A, Sarkans U, Schulze-Kremer S, Stewart J, Taylor R, Vilo J, Vingron M (2001) Minimum information about a microarray experiment (MIAME) – toward standards for microarray data. Nat Genet 29:365–371

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breitling R, Ritchie S, Goodenowe D, Stewart ML, Barrett MP (2006) Ab initio prediction of metabolic networks using Fourier transform mass spectrometry data. Metabolomics 2:155–164

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Budi Muljono RA, Scheffer JJC, Verpoorte R (2002a) Isochorismate is an intermediate in 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus cell cultures. Plant Physiol Biochem 40:231–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Budi Muljono RA, Talou JR, Scheffer JJC, Verpoorte R (2002b) Biosynthesis of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid in transgenic Catharanthus roseus cell cultures overexpressing isochorismate synthase. Heterocycles 56:341–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi YH, Kim HK, Linthorst HJM, Hollander JG, Lefeber AWM, Erkelens C, Nuzillard J-M, Verpoorte R (2006a) NMR metabolomics to revisit the tobacco mosaic virus infection in Nicotiana tabacum leaves. J Nat Prod 69:742–748

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Choi YH, Kim HK, Verpoorte R (2006b) Metabolomics. In: Kayser O, Quax W (eds) Medicinal plant biotechnology from basic research to industrial applications. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, pp 9–28

  • Cordell GA (1974) The biosynthesis of indole alkaloids. Lloydia 37:219–98

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dallüge J, Beens J, Brinkman UAT (2003) Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography: a powerful and versatile analytical tool. J Chromatogr A 1000:69–108

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Day RC, Grossniklaus U, Macknight RC (2005) Be more specific! Laser-assisted microdissection of plant cells. Trends Plant Sci 10:397–406

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fiehn O (2003) Metabolic networks of Cucurbita maxima phloem. Phytochemistry 62:75–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gobey J, Cole M, Janiszewski J, Covey T, Chau T, Kovarik P, Corr J (2005) Characterization and performance of MALDI on a triple quadruple mass spectrometer for analysis and quantification of small molecules. Anal Chem 77:5463–5654

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson KR (1965) Chlorogenic acid biosynthesis. Chemical synthesis and properties of the mono-O-cinnamoylquinic acids. Biochemistry 4:2719–2731

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ioannidis JPA (2005) Why most published research findings are false. PLoS Med 2:696–701

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Choi YH, Yoo K-P (2001) Supercritical fluid extraction of alkaloids. In: Pelletier SW (ed) Alkaloids: chemical and biological perspectives. Pergamon Press, Amsterdam, pp 415–432

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kopka J (2006) Gas chromatography mass spectrometry. In: Saito K, Dixon RA, Willmitzer L (eds) Biotechnology in agriculture and forestry 57 plant metabolomics. Springer, Leipzig, pp 3–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Lay JO Jr, Borgmann S, Liyanage R, Wilkins CL (2006) Problems with “Omics”. Trends Anal Chem 25:1046–1056

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liang Y-S, Lefeber AWM, Erkelens C, Kim HK, Choi YH, Verpoorte R (2006) Identification of phenylpropanoids in Brassica rapa leaves treated with methyl jasmonate using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. J Chromatogr A 1112:148–155

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lindon JC, Keun HC, Ebbels TMD, Pearce JMT, Holmes E, Nicholson JK (2005) The Consortium for Metabonomic Toxicology (COMET): aims, activities and achievements. Pharmacogenomics 6:691–699

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Looser R, Krotzky A, Trethewey RN (2005) Metabolite profiling with GC-MS and LC-MS. In: Vaidyanathan S, Harrigan G, Goodacre R (eds) Metabolome analyses strategies for systems biology. Springer, New York, pp 103–118

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh KN, Boxall JA, Lichtenthaler R (2004) Room temperature ionic liquids and their mixtures – a review. Fluid Phase Equilib 219:93–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maudens KE, Wille SMR, Lambert WE (2007) Traces of phosgene in chloroform: consequences for extraction of anthracyclines. J Chromatogr B 848:384–390

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moco S, Bino RJ, Vorst O, Verhoeven HA, De Groot J, Van Beek TA, Vervoort J, De Vos CHR (2006) A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolome database for tomato. Plant Physiol 141:1205–1218

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno PRH, Van der Heijden R, Verpoorte R (1994) Elicitor-mediated induction of isochorismate synthase and accumulation of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid in Catharanthus roseus cell suspension and shoot cultures. Plant Cell Rep 14:188–191

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mustafa NR (2007) Retrobiosynthetic study of salicylic acid in Catharanthus roseus cell suspension cultures. PhD thesis, Leiden University, Leiden

  • Pauli GF, Jaki BU, Lankin DC (2005) Quantitative 1H NMR: development and potential of a method for natural products analysis. J Nat Prod 68:133–149

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reily MD, Lindon JC (2005) NMR spectroscopy: principles and instrumentation. In: Robertson DG, Lindon J, Nicholson JK, Holmes E (eds) Metabonomics in toxicity assessment. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 75–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan D, Robards K (2006) Metabolomics: the greatest omics of them all? Anal Chem 78:7954–7958

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Santos FJ, Galceran MT (2003) Modern developments in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based environmental analysis. J Chromatogr A 1000:125–151

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schripsema J, Verpoorte R (1991) Investigation of extracts of plant cell cultures by 1H NMR. Phytochem Anal 2:155–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schripsema J, Erkelens C, Verpoorte R (1991) Intra- and extracellular carbohydrates in plant cell cultures investigated by 1H-NMR. Plant Cell Rep 9:527–530

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seddon KR (1997) Ionic liquids for clean technology. J Chem Tech Biotechnol 68:351–356

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder LR (1974) Role of the solvent in liquid-solid chromatography – a review. Anal Chem 46:1384–1393

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sumner LW, Mendes P, Dixon R (2003) Plant metabolomics: large-scale phytochemistry in the functional genomics era. Phytochemisty 62:817–836

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor J, King RD, Altmann T, Fiehn O (2002) Application to metabolomics to plant genotype discrimination using statistics and machine learning. Plant J 18:241–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Tegelen LJP, Bongaerts RJM, Croes AF, Verpoorte R, Wullems GJ (1999a) Isochorismate synthase isoforms from elicited cell suspension cultures of Rubia tinctorum. Phytochemistry 51:263–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Tegelen LJP, Moreno PRH, Croes AF, Verpoorte R, Wullems GJ (1999b) Purification and cDNA cloning of Isochorismate synthase from elicited cell suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus. Plant Physiol 119:705–712

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verberne MC, Budi Muljono RA, Verpoorte R (1999) Salicylic acid biosynthesis. In: Hooykaas PJJ, Hall MA, Libbenga KR (eds) Biochemistry and molecular biology of plant hormones. New comprehensive biochemistry, vol 33. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 295–312

  • Verberne M, Verpoorte R, Bol J, Mercado-Blanco J, Linthorst HJM (2000) Overproduction of salicylic acid in plants by bacterial transgenes enhances pathogen resistance. Nat Biotechnol 18:779–783

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verberne MC, Brouwer N, Delbianco F, Linthorst HJM, Bol JF, Verpoorte R (2002) Method for the extraction of the volatile compound salicylic acid from tobacco leaf material. Phytochem Anal 13:45–50

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verpoorte R, Baerheim Svendsen A (1976) The alkaloids of Strychnos dolichothyrsa. J Nat Prod 39:357–362

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verpoorte R, Baerheim Svendsen A (1978) Alkaloids from Strychnos dolichothyrsa. J Pharm Sci 67:171–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verpoorte R, Baerheim Svendsen A (1984) Chromatography of alkaloids, part II. Gas and liquid chromatography, vol 23B. Chromatography Library, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 534 pp

  • Verpoorte R, Choi YH, Kim HK (2007) NMR-based metabolomics at work in phytochemistry. Phytochem Rev 6:3–14

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner C, Sefkow M, Kopka J (2003) Construction and application of a mass spectral and retention time index database generated from plant GC/EI-TOF-MS metabolite profiles. Phytochemisty 62:887–900

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xianlin Han, Gross RW (2003) Global analyses of cellular lipidomes directly from crude extracts of biological samples by ESI mass spectrometry: a bridge to lipidomics. J Lipid Res 44:1071–1079

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yamazaki Y, Kitajima M, Arita M, Takayama H, Sudo H, Yamazaki M, Aimi N, Saito K (2004) Biosynthesis of Camptothecin in silico and in vivo tracer study from [1-13C] Glucose. Plant Physiol 134:161–170

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Verpoorte.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Verpoorte, R., Choi, Y.H., Mustafa, N.R. et al. Metabolomics: back to basics. Phytochem Rev 7, 525–537 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-008-9091-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-008-9091-7

Keywords

Navigation